A Teacher's Ruminations

Slicing every day in March!! Developing relationships with students is a very important part of what teachers do at the beginning of the year. In fact, it may very well be the most important thing teachers do to make sure that the year goes well and learning happens for every student. As the year progresses, these relationships may change and thereby need to be nurtured and cultivated. Sometimes, despite our best efforts, teacher-to-student relationships don't gel right away. They take effort, intentionality and honesty for teachers to grow healthy relationships with some of the more challenging students in our classrooms. Although it's already mid-March, I feel like I am just now developing relationships of mutual trust, respect and genuine appreciation with some of my students. I realize that the reason this has taken so long is because I let curricular demands get in the way of what's important. However, the last couple of weeks I have begun to feel like my o...